New computer virus targets Venezuelans after vote

The malicious software was launched after Venezuela's Oct. 7 presidential election and was spread by email, said Dmitry Bestuzhev, head of the Moscow-based company's research and analysis team in Latin America.

At least 75 Kaspersky customers came under attack by the malware, and non-customers surely did, too, he said.

Bestuzhev said in a blog post on Friday that the malicious file is named "listas-fraude-electoral.pdf.exe," which translates as "electoral fraud lists" — a title likely to make some Venezuelans curious after President Hugo Chavez's re-election victory.

He explained by email that computer users received an email message with a link. Once a victim clicked on the link, he said, the person was redirected to a fake website purporting to belong to the Venezuelan television channel Globovision.

"After the click the malicious file was automatically downloaded," Bestuzhev said. However, Kaspersky Lab said its antivirus system successfully blocked each attempt by the malware to infect its customers' computers.

Bestuzhev said the malware allows criminals to steal victims' banking information and also online credentials for those holding accounts with Venezuela's currency agency, known by its Spanish initials CADIVI.